With bated breath
The Democratic-controlled House and Senate have approved 2008 funding bills that include modest increases for several important community initiatives, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOPE VI programs, and transportation infrastructure needs. But, if President Bush follows through on his threat to veto spending bills that provide more than his budget requested, those programs may not see the increases. Some may even see funding levels decrease from 2007.
In keeping with his promise to balance the budget, President Bush has begun cracking down on domestic spending. The president even sent letters to his Cabinet secretaries instructing them to urge Senate and House members to oppose proposed increases for departments and agencies. For example, the Senate is asking to fund the Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development at $6 billion higher than the president’s request — including $1 billion for bridge upgrades.
Democrats maintain they are restoring many domestic program cuts that have been made during the Bush administration. But, Republican House leaders have said they will support the veto, and the arguing has stalled many of the 2008 appropriations bills.
“We appreciate that Congress has done a lot to restore [much] of the funding that has been hard to find in the last couple of sessions, but we are concerned about the president’s veto threat,” says Michael Wallace, senior legislative counsel on federal relations, for the Washington-based National League of Cities (NLC). “The way the bills stand now, it’s looking to be good for cities this year.”
The Washington-based National Association of Counties (NACo) is paying particular attention to transportation funding, says Jeff Arnold, NACo’s deputy legislative director. But, he says, the $1 billion for bridges that was added by Congress has been controversial.
Because the appropriations process was not completed by the Oct. 1 deadline, it is probable Congress will begin lumping together spending bills and pass one or more omnibus measures, which officials say could hurt cities and counties. “Cities don’t benefit from omnibus bills,” Wallace says. “The modest increases we try to get every year tend to be left out.”
Wallace and Arnold say if Congress begins working on omnibus bills, it is likely they will pass measures close to current spending levels that the president would sign. After Oct. 1, it became necessary for Congress to approve continuing resolutions so the federal government can operate until 2008 budgets are approved.
Now, Wallace says, it becomes difficult for local governments to pass their budgets on time. “The way the CDBG program works, over time, even when there is level funding, the more cities become eligible for the grants, the less funding there is for all the cities,” says Mesa, Ariz., Vice Mayor Claudia Walters. “It’s almost like a decrease.”
Wallace says NLC will continue to urge Congressional members to adopt the increases, and several associations, including NACo and the Washington-based U.S. Conference of Mayors, have sent letters to House and Senate appropriators stressing the importance of the funds.
The author is the Washington correspondent for American City & County.